Monikers: Names, nicknames, and uniqueness to India

Branding, its principles and logic has existed in India for thousand of years. It’s just that we have never been conscious of it. Our ancestors had given it a different name “Naamkararan”. It meant giving the new born an identity that will remain with him all his life. It will signal his lineage, pedigree and his roots. The name with the surname became his and his family tree’s resume or bio data. This differed from state to state and had a specific uniqueness to it. e.g in Kerala M B K Menon in full form was the name, the lineage and the address. “Melangath Bala Krishna Menon” meant Melangath was the ancestral home address, Bala Krishna was the name and Menon was the title which signaled the profession and caste. In Tamil Nadu the name as prefixed with the father’s name. R Srinivasan, was Raghavan – the father. It also pointed out your caste as an Iyengar Brahmin. These were essentials to each geography and it was unique to India.

So, the name in older times was your signature, your address of your origin, your family tree, your ancestral home and hence your lineage. This was immensely helpful when marriages were being fixed as this as the best reference check that you could rely on.

The names were after the Gods that were worshipped in India. There are quiet a few, about 35 million different Gods with different stories of logic and magic, as to why they are revered. There are Elephant Gods, Snake Gods, Monkey Gods, Bird Gods, etc.

The main god brands were Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, Lord Vishnu, synonymous in the Southern states. The Northern states mainly worshipped Lord Hanuman and Lord Rama. The Western states were followers of Lord Ganesha. Then came then Goddesses who were just as big if not bigger.

Goddess Kaali, Durga, Laxmi, Shakti, were all brand variants of Goddess Parvati.

Each God Brand had endless variants and extensions, and this reflected in the various names that were bequeathed to the new born, who amplified the same. Lord Shiva , Ganesha and Lord Krishna had over 1000 different names, and each of these variants were bequeathed to their disciples or followers when they dawned on mother earth. So, you pick any random name and it will connect you to a God that is followed in his or her family.

Life moved on, and as we progressed and became more literate, we drifted from our roots in search of greener pastures to bigger cities in search of better jobs and a better living. This identity went through different modifications mainly towards simplifying the name.

This simplification gave birth to the Monikers. This Moniker or nickname or pet name had a flavour of the geography. In the North the common pet names were Babli, Ricky, Rosy, Bunty, Billy, Pappi etc.

In the South it was ‘Appu, Babu, Kuttan, Kochu… etc.

In the East, the common names were Baapi, Bapa. Nonu, Shantu, Nantu, etc.

Balwinder Singh Sandhu was too big a name so it became “Balli”. It suited everybody and Balli loved it too.

In the South “Appu” was common as it came from the playful Lord Krishna.
Monikers biggest playing field was either the college hostels or the defence forces. If you had been to one in your life it is very unlikely that you would not get a moniker.

Rightly so as it saved time, simplified life for everyone. So, at the NDA, IMA, the IITs, the medical schools or any university hostels ensured that you got a Moniker identity for life.

This identity was unique in the sense that it gave you a fevicol like bonding with the batchmates and with the alma mater. This stayed with you even when you got to the top of your career. So Brig Lakshminarayan Santhanam became “Senti”, Col Ragvendran Ramaswami Iyer became “Rags”, Subraminian Anantharao Iyengar was simplified as “Anger”.

Amongst the known, Sunil Manohar Gavaskar became “Sunny” and Kapil Dev Nikhanj became “Kapsi” , Krishnamachari Srikkanth became “Chika”. Isn’t it lovely?

Over the years the moniker becomes more popular than the real full name. At times it surprises people when they hear the real name. For the Praveen Kumar Tripathi never rang a bell at IIT Kanpur as loudly , but “Trips” always was in sync, and Amar Kumar Wadhwa was always “Wady” for buddies.

This subconscious branding or sub branding has also been romanced in advertising campaigns. I do not know how many would remember the ‘Bobby’ soap campaign in Northern India on Radio in the 80’s.

The line was ‘Sun meri Billo, Bobby Panj Rupaiyya kilo’ or the legendary Cadbury’s campaign “ Pappu paas ho gaya” or the Asian Paints “Gattu” and his antics…or the legendary price off promo for Northern India of Quickfix – Fevicol when the small adhesive for Rs 5/- always stuck up the Re5/- return change coin with the sign off “Oye Billoo Phir Chipuk Gaya Oye” Billo is a typical northern next door moniker.

Monikers also come from the unique trait or habbit that the person possessed at the Hostel or at the Academy. e.g. The guy who was brilliant at his studies at the academy, but always came last in any physical exercise or was never included in a game was branded “Fassadi”(he who came last) although the real name was Anirudh Lahiri.

Ideally “Ani” would have been appropriate; but it was not to be. The classic celebrity case was “Tiger” which was the Moniker for Mohammad Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi for his tiger-like agility in the field.

So, the Monikers main ingredient has been love, bonding, and this is a result of community or a bunch of well-wishers who thought with the same wisdom. So, it was a sub conscious effort of interactivity which unified many with reason. It gave them joy whenever the moniker was mentioned as it helped them rewind life and relish the memory.

Like someone said “Life is nothing but building relationships and creating memories” The more you have them the more enriched your life becomes. It’s here that the “Monikers” have played an invaluable service to our life.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com.